"France's position is that these Russian assets belong in particular to the Central Bank of Russia," he told France Info. 

"These cannot be assets to be seized" because that "would be contrary to international agreements to which France and Europe have signed up," Lombard added.

Seizing these assets could set an "economic precedent" and make investors wary, French European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad also stressed.

EU countries are already using profits from frozen Russian assets to help arm Ukraine and fund its post-war reconstruction - a windfall of €2.5 billion to €3 billion a year. 

For now, however, the possibility of confiscating the Russian assets themselves has been ruled out, mainly for legal reasons.

In December last year, the head of European diplomacy, Kaya Kalas, spoke in favour of direct use of frozen Russian assets.

During a debate in the French National Assembly, former Prime Minister Gabriel Atal and other MPs said they supported confiscation, which the head of diplomacy, Jean-Noel Barrot, ruled out, citing "too great a financial risk". | BGNES